pacific rim

It wasn't until early this morning in San Francisco (having flown in from Newark last night) that I actually sat down, calculated the time difference, and realized that I'm going to be on that plane for 13 hours, beating out by one hour previous Epic Journeys to Japan (12 hours in 2001) and Israel (11 hours in 1974). The truth is, ever since becoming a parent, I've been generally quite enthusiastic about time spent undisturbed alone in a cushioned seat with nothing more pressing to do than to decide what to read. The dentist's chair has for years seemed a blessed refuge. But this is going to be a lot of quality seat time. Glad I took the option of doing the first 6 hours to SF on the previous day. So this morning, before meeting an old friend for breakfast, I got out and walked along SF Bay to get a whiff of the Bay
Area I remembered from all the years I lived and visited here. There's that smell of -- dill? rosemary? some succulent plant? -- there are the wide, well-paved roadways, there's that warm but not suffocating feeling of the sun cooled by the bay breezes, there are the well-groomed exercise paths that seem to go on endlessly but never arrive anywhere real. It all brings to mind my first summer in San Jose 29 years ago, and the intense Asian flavor of many communities out here. Good place to launch.